News on Land

SARAWAK Dayaks, angry over two recent Federal Court decisions which failed to recognise native customary rights, will gather at the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya on Tuesday to “make their feelings known” at another appeal case set to go against them.

Across the globe, grassroots organizations are combatting injustice by helping people to understand, use, and shape the laws that affect them. Few of them receive the recognition they deserve. We want to change that. 

In 2015, Namati launched the world’s first competition to celebrate great deeds in the field of legal empowerment. This year, the biennial Grassroots Justice Prize returns -- bigger and better than before. 

USAID LandLinks is working to support private sector partners to de-risk investments and secure legitimate land rights in order to improve livelihoods and other outcomes for communities affected by investments. Join us, along with Agrilinks, Microlinks, and a panel of experts, for an interactive online discussion on the Business Case for Land Rights: Private Sector Perspectives on Responsible Land-Based Investment.

Land empowerment for women is cardinal in the acceleration of development at community and national level. The picture may not look so encouraging in Zambia with regards to women making strides in accessing land. And even the very few women who have access to land are utilising it to full capacity. One such woman is 27-year old graduate Tamara Kaunda who is a shining example of women in leadership who can inspire others.

Property rights are a cornerstone of economic development and social justice, and data on perceptions of security of property rights are required to monitor global initiatives such as the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Forests and Fisheries and the Sustainable Development Goals. Yet, perceptions of security of tenure have never been assessed at the global level, preventing a clear understanding of the magnitude and nature of citizens' experience of security and insecurity related to crucial assets such as housing and land.

Attacks have raised concerns about further violence from illegal miners who often look for gold in protected areas or indigenous lands amid rising tensions over land ownership

RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct 29 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Brazilian army and police officers have ramped up security in the northern town of Humaitá in the Amazon region after illegal gold miners set fire to the offices of government environmental watchdogs, officials said on Sunday.

The 50-year civil war is over but, in the Cauca Valley, indigenous communities are on frontline of fight against drug gangs, riot police and deforestation

A green-and-red flag flies over a cluster of bamboo and tarpaulin tents on the frontline of an increasingly deadly struggle for land and the environment in Colombia’s Cauca Valley.

Santiago Maldonado was last seen alive in public in Patagonia on August 1 at a protest for the land rights of the Mapuche, a group of indigenous peoples from Chile and Argentina. Various witnesses recount seeing him being detained by military police and loaded into a van during a raid by state authorities, but there is no official record of his detention, and no information was provided to his family.

Indigenous leaders and forestry experts warned on Tuesday that without more funding and protection for forests and their peoples, the world will fail to meet the ambitious goals set by the Paris Agreement.

In "a declaration of the guardians of the forest," the coalition of indigenous groups called on countries to help stop the killing of its leaders, ensure legal recognition of their lands and designate environmental degradation a crime against humanity.

The government had reclassified four economic land concessions as state property, reclaiming almost 20,000 hectares earlier handed to private firms to use for rubber plantations.

A sub-decree issued on August 31 said the land in Kratie, Kampong Thom and Ratanakkiri provinces was to be taken back from four companies following an Agriculture Ministry proposal in March.

The companies were all supposed to develop rubber plantations, but failed to do so, clearing the land and then abandoning it.

The third-generation farmers question alleged discrepancy in issuance of permits among different parties to operate on the land.